Finally, a Penrhyn castle (birthday) date

I had never gone and properly visited Penrhyn castle. I had been there; there is a Parkrun there, and I have run that a few times. And once we went to have a coffee afterwards in the café. But that's it! And I felt I should go and see it. In a way, it is a hated building; it was built with the profits from slave labour on a Jamaican sugar plantation, and owned by the family who were hideous to the local quarrymen. It was also the owners of the estate who inspired the Great Strike, the longest industrial dispute in British history. I have heard several people say they think it should be razed to the ground. But I don't think so; you can't blame the castle for this. You might as well turn it to your advantage now it's here anyway!

I had intended to go and see it with Tim. And we were going to do that after a run. Then that was the run during which he broke his ankle. So we never went! And I was a bit superstitious after that; would Nick break his ankle if we would try to get to the castle? But that is of course an irrational thought.

He came to visit me the day before my birthday. On the actual birthday, he had a Christmas celebration with the dojo his son goes to, so in order to be there a bit during my birthday weekend, he came the Friday evening. And he was a true romantic flowers and chocolate. Unfortunately, he was rather under the weather. So I figured an indoor activity for the Saturday would be a good idea, and the castle was open, so we went! After a birthday breakfast with a present. A book with walks in Shropshire! We'll make good use of that.

When we got to the castle we first saw a few Parkrunners leave just when we entered. I found that a bit sad. I want to be a runner! But my time will come. 

The castle

We walked up to the castle and went in. We had a look at the larder, and then came into the kitchen. And there are a lady approached us. It was Janet! From the climbing club! It turned out she was a volunteer there, and guided tourists. And she didn't have a group, so she took us on. That was fab!

The kitchen

We got a tour of some of the parts of the castle that were meant for entertaining, and some of them that were private quarters. It was not as if the latter were not opulent! But there was a difference in the levels thereof. 

Janet told us a lot about the history of the castle, and the provenance of the materials used, and the life of one particular lady who had lived there: Alice Douglas Pennant. She showed us two places where she had scratched her name into the glass with a diamond ring! Quite an act of rebellion, but now a lovely historical artefact. 

Dining room

Staircase

When Janet was done, we did the traditional loop fairly swiftly and then went to have a coffee in the café. And a nosy in the miniature secondhand bookshop. And then we are good to go back again. After all, Nick would have to leave fairly soon. 

I was glad I had finally seen the castle! And Nick loved it so much he said he actually wanted to go back some other time to see more. And we were so lucky to bump into Janet! A lovely birthday surprise. Couldn't have gone better!

Anglesey Barracks with Nick

Nick suddenly had less in the way of caring responsibilities than expected, and wondered if he could come over. And I said yes. And the previous time we met he had said he would love to go and see the Anglesey Barracks. I figured that was within the realm of possibilities!

Anglesey Barracks (pic taken when I was there with Frank and Ilja) 

Before we got there, we agreed that we would give it a go as a couple. So it's official now I suppose! And I am aware that that means we took a rather quick decision, as this was only date number six. But it's clearly going well, and lurking around in limbo for a long time isn't ideal either. So there is officially a man in my life now. And we will do our best to make that go well! And we celebrated by taking some beer (alcohol-free and otherwise) and some nibbles, and consuming these in Dinorwic Quarry. An excellent celebration if you ask me…

Nick and me (pic taken in the grounds of Stokesay Castle)

Return to Stokesay Castle

With Jitske I had walked past a stunning medieval castle: Stokesay Castle. We would have loved to have a closer look, but it was closed at the time. And when I peeled off from her hike, I was picked up by a bloke I had been on two dates with, who happened to live around there. So when we were thinking of another date after the one featuring the Gladstone 9, I suggested we do the next one in Shropshire, and go back to the castle. And he liked the idea! 

We convened at his house. So I’ve seen that too now. And I even met his youngest son, who happened to be home. He was very welcoming. 

When we got to the castle it was a rather damp day. But we were already impressed before we even got close. And we were even more impressed when we walked in. We started in the main hall. What a place! And from there we explored all nooks and crannies accessible to the public. We had a blast. We both have a big weak spot for history. And we finished off with a moat walk. There were apples trees in it! 

Castle with South Tower

Main Hall

The gatehouse seen from the caste

An interior shot

Then it was lunchtime and we retreated to Clun (the village) for something to eat. Initially we had intended to also fit in a swim in the river Clun but we ran out of time. I still had a 2 hour drive back home to do! 

The castle had been amazing. And the date with Nick had been pretty good too. So there’ll be another one. Stay tuned…

Post-hike mammoth watching

There was a fortunate coincidence going on with my hike with Jitske in Shropshire. I had to get there, and get back too, and that might not be easy. On the way out I had met her only some 15 minutes from a railway station, but it had taken me almost five hours door to door. On the way back I would have no railway station so conveniently close by. So I would somehow have to get to one further away. And public transport in Britain isn’t very impressive. 

As it so happened, I had been approached on a dating site by a man from Shropshire in early July. I told him I had seen his profile and figured I would ignore it. Shropshire is far away, and he had kids. Forget it! But we got chatting, and that went well, so in spite of the impediments we met up twice. And now I would be in his neck of the woods anyway. So I suggested we meet up when I'm there anyway. He was up for that! And he offered to pick me up from wherever I would be and deliver me to a railway station. And I accepted that.

When I was having lunch with Jitske we decided on a time and place to propose for the pick-up. The path was going to cross a road anyway! And there was a parking lot there. And there were picnic tables I could use for waiting if needs be. So that was agreed. And my date asked me if I was interested in watching some mammoth bones. I didn't really expect that question, but I said yes, why not, mammoth bones are cool!

When my date showed up he explained that in the area, mammoth bones had been found, and that the town we had just come through, Craven Arms, had a museum that seemed to have been put there specifically to host replicas of them. And if you have those, you might as well expand a bit, and put the entire history of the area in the exhibition. So the museum was grandly called the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre. And that's where we were headed.

It isn't a big place, but it was quite cool! I love geology and I love history, and they had both. It was quite quiet; we practically had the place to ourselves.

From the Iron Age section

When we had seen it all we decided to financially support the place, and have food there too. I had had lunch, but I knew I wouldn't be home until 8 pm or so, so another meal would have to be slotted in! And this would work out quite nicely. They also served ice cream, but my date suggested we go somewhere else for that; there is a gorge near Church Stretton (Carding Mill Valley), and that's where he used to go for ice cream. So we went there.

I was keeping a close eye on the time; I had a train to catch. Because of that, we didn't get very far into the gorge. We had to make sure we were back at the railway station on time. And we made it happen.

We both enjoyed this. We already have the next meeting in the diary!

Visit by an old friend

Somewhere in the mid-nineties I moved to shared student accommodation. One of the people there was Frank, a geology graduate with a passion for palaeontology. We got along well. But student accommodation has high turnover, and we both moved on from there. But we connected on Facebook so we were still in each other’s perimeter. 

This January suddenly I got a message from him. He and his wife would go on holiday to Wales in july! Would I be around? Could we meet up? And I thought it would be a great idea! And he turned out to have rented a cottage in nearby Tregarth. The day after he arrived I biked up.

It was so good to see him! Except for the grey hair he had changed a bit. And he said the same held for me. We estimated we hadn't seen each other for 20 years, but we couldn't really remember at what occasion we had last met. And it was lovely to meet his wife. And we didn't waste much time; soon we were sitting in the garden with beer and wine and snacks. And we talked through what they were going to do the coming days. Their first day had been spent wisely at South Stack.

View from Frank and Ilja’s cottage’s garden 

They had plenty of plans, and the thought was that one day I would team up with them, and that would be a Dinorwic trip. So that was decided! But we had plenty more to discuss. I left when it got dark, as I realised I had left my bicycle light at home. That tends to happen in late summer! I'm not used to needing them.

Our Dinorwic trip would take place on Sunday. Late morning they came to pick me up. So we got in the car, and I suggested we drive the touristic route to Llanberis. I directed them to the side entrance of the quarry, above the bus stop. I knew we didn't really want start exploring the quarry from there, but it is such a beautiful route to get there! And the views are amazing. Frank and Ilja agreed. 

From there we drove to the slate museum. We decided to first to do the quarry and then the museum. So we started walking up the zigzags. Frank really wanted to see the Anglesey Barracks, and that could be arranged.

Triple quarry selfie

From there we took the incline up to the viewpoint, and then we aimed for the hidden waterfall. But it was a day in the weekend in summer and the weather was fine, so plenty of people wanting the same thing. Quite different from the previous time I had been there! Then we had to place to ourselves.

View over the quarry

The famous waterfall

Ilja didn't fancy the route to there, so she waited for us. Frank thought it had been well worth going to have a look with the two of us. And it is really a beautiful place!

When we had done that we headed back to the museum. I directed them to the quarryman’s cottages, and after that we did the workshops. There was even a live blacksmith there! And then it was time to head to my place and drink beer in the garden.

I first showed them my house and my cat, of course. They liked both! And they understood why I'm so happy with my garden. Ilja is really into birds, and she was impressed that as soon as we walked into the garden, the dippers gave acte de présence. And a bit later there was commotion on the river; two female mergansers of some description (either common or red-breasted; I think the red breasts are a male thing) were zipping around. I had only seen them once before, but I had had no clue what they were!

Frank admiring simulated metal casting

When they left we decided we shouldn't leave it decades to see each other again. Frank was really keen on a house swap from time to time. But if I am in the Netherlands, it makes a lot more sense to be based at my mother’s. But I'll keep it in mind! And I can also just visit. And maybe they will come back here as well. They were having a whale of a time in Wales! So hopefully we will sort of pick up from where we had left off, in the 90s…

Guided walk about On Nos Olau Lleuad

I looked at the weather forecast, changed into quick-dry trousers, and set off to the starting point of the guided walk about celebrated Welsh book Un Nos Olau Leuad. We would gather rather high up in the village, and I assumed we would walk down from there. The evening would end in a pub near me. 

It was only raining mildly. I figured that I was the first one! You could either go straight to the beginning, or hitch a ride with the local electrical van, and I had chosen to walk. I figured the van would first wait for stragglers, and be a bit later. And soon another slightly bedraggled lady ended up at the same address. I approached her asking if she was there for the same purpose, and she was! And then more appeared. Two of them I recognised from an earlier guided walk; that had been archaeology and ecology in the Carneddau. We had a nice chat.

After a while we decided to check the junction nearby, and we found the van and everybody belonging with it. They hadn't bothered to look around the corner to the actual address where they had told us to meet. But now we were complete, and it could start. 

The first thing the guide, Ieuan Wyn, did was if a bit of an introduction. He reminded people of when the book was written and published, and what the circumstances were of the author. He also touched on the form of the narrative; it’s childhood memories from an adult man. Even though that is a bit weird; when you read the book, it really has a childlike perspective, where things that happen are taken as given, and not reflected on. Adults looking back tend to do that differently, but hey ho. 

He then proceeded to mention a lot of locations that were mentioned in the book, and explained what their real names were. Quite a lot of them are slightly altered, and some I thought I recognised, but wasn't sure of. Braich-> Braichmelyn, Pont Stabla -> Pont Twr (the most plausible bridge), etc. Some locations I really couldn't place, like an auntie’s house which turned out to be in Deiniolen, and the house where the protagonist lives. And that was the house where we had gathered. 

The street and house where both author and protagonist lived

Ieuan Wyn explain the various locations where the author had lived, which were all quite nearby. And took us to the house that is the location of a nasty eviction at the very start of the book. But then the rain was hammering down! It was decided that we will try to do some of the talking inside the bus. We could still see the locations from the inside. And after we had seen these locations higher up in the village, we went to the church. The protagonist is a churchgoer, not a chapel goer. I had never been in there! It had been built by Penrhyn Estate (of course) and there are several scenes that are set inside it. It was nice to see the details all matching up.

To the church 

Inside

After church we went to the little parking space next to my house, as that plays a role as well. Not as a parking lot, obviously. But although there were probably about 20 pubs in the town at the time where the novel is set, there is only mention of one (now closed), and that his back entrance where is now the parking lot. So some of the scenes were really set nearby! And the guide also spoke a bit about the two various locations where there had been holding cells; I blogged about the older ones earlier, and now I also know where the newer ones, in use at the time of the book, are. I think had actually found out before, but forgotten again. 

After that we went to the pub. I was glad! I was hoping for something hot. The communications about this event had been that a light meal would be served. Coming in we noticed it wasn't hot at all, but at least we could get a hot cup of tea or coffee with it. That helped!

I chatted a bit more with some of the other participants, but I did not stay long. And even then it was after nine when I left. And the next day was going to be a long one. But I was glad I had gone. It really lives more in your head if you know where all these scenes are set! So that was an evening well spent. And I was also glad I had managed to read almost the entire book beforehand. The guide read out scenes that related to the locations where we were, and I recognised all of them from recently having read them. Even finishing the book would not have given me more relevant locations. So both the re-reading and the walk were a success! I am now a better informed reader and Bethesda resident…

Post-race walk with Claire

My fairly new Welsh medium colleague Claire had suggested an evening walk. She lives in a neighbouring village. That sounded like a good idea! Even when she suggested Monday, the day after my race. I always have post-race legs, but I thought a gentle stroll might even help with that. And the legs ended up in a lot worse state than I had anticipated! 

We would just do a stroll around Moel Faban, my standard running ground. And we agreed to meet at her place, which is more or less on the way. And it turned out she lives in the converted chapel there! I have run and biked past that so many times. I had no idea she lived there. 

I got there and she first showed me the place. In Welsh, of course. That was going to be the language of the walk. And the building was gorgeous! But she will be leaving it soon. Then we set off. If you walk around Moel Faban you spend the first half of the route going uphill. At my request we didn't take the steep route, but I still felt very creaky. I could really feel my legs. But at least this was gentle exercise, so it might even help keeping them flexible.

She also mentioned the famous stone that had is said to been used for sharpening stone arrowheads in the olden days. I said I was aware that it must be somewhere around, but I didn't know which one it was. I had never found the markings! But it turned out we were walking past it, and she showed me. Now I finally know! And in return I explained rock cannons to her, and told her about two locations in the area where you can find them.

Finally: the sharpening stone! 

We walked on. It wasn't raining too hard. And then at a dreaded moment we reached the highest point of our walk. And now the downhill would be a bit steep for a while. That was quite a challenge! My knees were not keen. But Claire had a lot of patience with me.

When we reached the very gentle path again it was like a switch had been flicked. Suddenly I was totally able-bodied again. Nice! The worst was over.

On the way I did get an opportunity to nerd out a bit about slate, and what reduction spots are. Claire is a biologist and she had been wandering about things like that.

We walked down through the Rachub High Street. And got caught up in another adventure! Some ill-advised young man had decided to try to turn off from that rather grandly named but very narrow road into an even smaller side ally. In a van. That doesn't work. But now he had ended up so close to the wall he was scared of scraping along it. Not something most car owners enjoy.

With Claire observing from the front of me from behind we managed to talk him out of his predicament. It was so close! It took a while before he had managed to put more than a centimetre between the van and the wall. But in the end he got away with only his pride damaged. He was so relieved! And we continued our way.

Back at the chapel we had a cup of tea, and then I went back home. I had done some 5 km on my very old legs! And had a lovely time with Claire. We both expressed the intention to do this more often, so watch this space!

Day out with the Cornish

It had been a year ago since Mike and Daz, my Cornish friends, had come up to Wales. So I could have expected a message saying they were due again. They appeared just when teaching petered out. Good timing!

They were up for either an above ground or underground trip, but they had already done a massive hike, so I figured an underground trip would be more fitting. I didn't have buckets of inspiration, but I did mention which venues I had visited the past year. And one of these was a mine they hadn't been in before. They had been in a few meters, but then turned back. This might have had something to do with the cold water you encounter pretty much immediately. But now they were up for it. And we’d meet up there.

It was great to see them! And we got kitted up. After a while we went in. We first did the lower level. They had never seen a chute like that before! Or a wagon like that. 

Then we went up and checked that level out. And then it was time to head into the deep cold water. And we checked all the way to the end. Nice drippies, nice laddered shafts, nice artefacts. And then we went back out. Time to warm our feet back up! 

Mine level

Ladder going off into oblivion 

Crawling through a partial collapse with black speleothems

Decorative bottle

We changed, had a drink, and then decided to have a look at a nearby mine entrance none of us had seen before. How could this one have escaped me so long? I now know where it is. I might recce it before they come back. And then we went back to their accommodation. By that time I was ravenous! So I was keen to get lunch somewhere. And we settled on a nearby pub. I don't think any of the food touched the sides.

In the pub we made plans for the afternoon. Mike wondered if there was anything interesting to see in some area that boils down to the easternmost part of the Lleyn peninsula. I thought of the hillfort: Tre’r Ceiri. And we decided to go there. But I said I first wanted some tea.

We went back to their accommodation where I found a kettle and a big flask. So I did my thing. And then we could go!

It is a fair drive there. But quite a lot of the road is beautiful, so that was okay. And by the time we got to the layby that functions at the start of the standard walk up to the top, it was about 4:15. A bit late to start a walk! But this one wouldn't be huge.

We started our way up, and quite soon we got to the outer wall. The men were impressed! And it is quite an impressive structure. We had a little wander around, imagining what life would have been like when this place was still inhibited. We were most wondering about the issue of drinking water. But we didn't linger too long. We were back at the car in about an hour. 

Hillfort selfie

Notice the outer wall and hut circles

When we got back we had one more hot drink in their accommodation. And then it was time to go home. It was really time for the cat to get her dinner. But it had been a great time! And I'm sure they'll be back next year. I look forward to it already Maybe they will even do both a summer and a winter trip! That wouldn't be the first time…

Bonus Roman fort

I'd known for years that there were remnants of Roman occupation in the vicinity of Trawsfynydd. I had never seen them. I am not in that area very often, and if I am, I sometimes have stuff to get on with. But I had seen it is really close to the power station which was race headquarters. So I figured I might go and have a look after the race! 

On the day of the race, some really heavy showers came down. I did not want to visit that fort in any of these. But when I left it was windy but dry. So I gave it a go! I parked on the layby on the other side of the road, and started on the path. Surprise surprise, it looked quite like a stream! But soon it looked like not a path at all. But I knew in what direction it was, so I didn't mind. To get to the fort you have to go through a copse, and it was stunningly beautiful! I hadn't expected that.

It doesn't look like this path attracts throngs of visitors

Would it have been raining? The path ducking underneath the old railway to Bala, which got flooded by the Tryweryn reservoir

Fairy woodland

On the other side of the copse it is just fields, and you can see the mound that is part of the fort from a bit of a distance, so I got there quite easily. Navigation-wise, that is; I was still seriously buffeted by the wind. And another rain shower came over, but luckily it wasn't a really heavy one.

I knew from having a bit of a Google what approximately to expect. You can see some banks of the old fort. The mound, Tomen y Mûr, is quite central, but might not have been part of the fort. It seems to be an 11th century motte, conveniently located in the same place. The map speaks of an amphitheatre, but I had the impression that it needs a specialist eye to see that. I sure didn't see it! It seems to have mainly been a wooden structure, and these often leave only subtle traces. 

When I was standing on the top of the mound I could only just remain upright; the wind was still that strong. I also had a look at a little stretch of wall that has been reconstructed, to give an idea of what this place will have looked like in the 2nd century CE. But then I was ready to go back to the car again. Home was beckoning, with food and hot drinks!

Looking back at the power station 

Looking at the piece of reconstructed wall, from the motte

The wall, with the motte in the background 

I was glad took the extra effort to go and have a look! It's not really a place you want to travel far for. There isn't that much to see. But just extending a visit in the area a bit to see this is quite rewarding. Especially as it is not just historically interesting, but also a beautiful landscape!

Mummies

In November, we had tried to go to Manchester, to see an exhibition about golden mummies in the Manchester Museum. It had been Susan's idea. I don't have an unusual fascination with mummies, but it sounded like a fun day out! We didn't make it, though; there had been an awful traffic accident on the route, and traffic was completely jammed. We had to turn back, and abandoned mission.

Suddenly a message came from Susan; should we try again? On a Saturday? And I said yes. So we tried again! It wasn't without risk; that Saturday there was a weather warning out, courtesy of storm Kathleen. And storms sometimes also cause traffic disruption. But she and Dean just picked me up, and we drove Eastwards without incident. 

We had a bit of lunch and then headed to the museum. We had a time slot to enter the exhibition, and it wasn't that time yet, so we first had to look at the general archaeology section. That was a bit confusing; there didn't seem to be much of an order with regard to time and place. But I like seeing old stuff! And then we went to see the actual exhibition.

The museum

I thought it was a bit underwhelming, but so be it. The wrapping of some of these mummies is amazing! And when we were out, we just headed to the café for a drink, and then to the natural history part of the museum. That was fab! Some of it was a bit slapstick; some of the taxidermy seems to not have gone entirely according to plan. But it was great to look at animals and rocks and fossils and stuff like that.

A golden mummy

A non-golden mummy with impressive bandaging and portrait
 

The building on the inside 

Not sure East African spring hares really look like this 

They also was a geological overview of time. I like that sort of stuff! And there even was a bit about the history of understanding of the climate system! That is really up my street. It started with the scientists of the time still sticking to the biblical flood assumption, and then the evolution of understanding of things such as geological time, and the ice ages with their causation. And there are also were samples from the Challenger expedition! That is such a crucial event in palaeo-environmental research. It was people on a wooden sailing boat cris-crossing the Earth between 1872 and 1876. And the reports they wrote on the basis of what they had done are still so valuable in the present day. Their foram report is still a seminal work. Many of the species they describe have since been renamed, but who this day and age can spend four years on a research cruise? I assume they also had a lot of time to deal with their samples, and publishing their results. Probably, the people involved were independently wealthy. And I'm glad that nowadays you don't need to be anymore. But they did the work, and they clearly had the time to give all of it their full attention, and not just the spectacular bits, and it is great we can still benefit from it.

Challenger samples

When we had seen all that we were a bit museumed out. And we got back without incident. A good day out!

St David’s Day: lecture about Mary Jones

How many people who read this blog would have heard of Mary Jones? She is quite famous in Wales, but that only says so much. I had heard of her since a Welsh class in which her story popped up. 

On the 1st of March it's Saint David's Day, and for that reason, on that day there was an online lecture about her and her significance. In Welsh. And I decided to attend. It was chaired by a bloke from Philosophy and Religion that I had seen around at meetings of the Bangor branch of the National College of Wales. And the lady who did the talk was from the Bible society. And that gives you an idea of the significance of Mary Jones.

The story of this lady is that she was very religious, but also very poor. She had learned to read and write, and really wanted to have a Bible. But that wasn't so easy! For someone who is poor they are quite expensive, and there aren’t many around written in Welsh.

She just saved for six years, and then, at 15, went for a walk to the nearest shop that might sell them. She was too poor for shoes, and it was 26 miles. Quite a hike! And what happened when she got there is not entirely clear, but it seems that the most likely course of events was that the shop actually sold out in Welsh language Bibles. But not to panic; there was a delivery due, and she seems to have managed to get home with her Bible a few days later. Maybe even several Bibles, to share around.

Why is this relevant? The shopkeeper seems to have been very moved by her actions, and decided that Welsh language Bibles should be cheaply available to all. And he founded a society to make that possible. And when he was at it anyway, he branched out to include the rest of the world as well.

And now? The Welsh have largely lost their religion. Those who have been here will have noticed the huge number of chapel buildings dotted around, many of which now derelict, or turned into outdoor shops or cafés or any other secular use someone had for them.

I suppose, in a way, the story still stands. I can see parallels with Greta Thunberg. If you are 15 and really stubborn, you can do things other people think are weird and not worth the bother, but before you know it you inspire either a few influential, or lots of less influential people, and are at the beginning of a big change. I can imagine why the Welsh have not forgotten her! And maybe now a few more people have heard of her…

Running in Dorothea Quarry

It's only half an hour away, but I rarely go to the Nantlle Valley. The last time I was there, I came through while hiking the Slate Trail. And that meant I didn't have much time to explore. We were doing the heaviest hiking day of the whole trip. We started at 7 am, and didn't stop until 7 pm. I think we covered 30 km and three mountain ridges. You can imagine that we had enough on our hands, and didn't make the day any longer by exploring. We just followed the route!

When an interesting event was announced in Penygroes (that will be the next blog post), I figured I should tag along a run in the general area of Dorothea quarry. I know it's beautiful! And I had barely seen any of it.

The event would start at 12:30, so there was time to do a run beforehand. My idea was to park up in Nantlle, go for a run, drive to the lake, have a little swim in order to freshen up a bit, have my lunch, and go to the event. But it didn't really work out that way.

I wasn't the fastest that morning, so I didn't have that much time for my run when I got there. But the area indeed is amazingly beautiful! I got really distracted by all the beautiful industrial remains there. I didn't really pull my weight running, to be honest. I made a big loop around one of the bigger flooded pits, and then extended the run by following a bit of the Slate Trail again. At least that was uphill! I would get a little bit of exercise doing that.

Entering the quarry territory 

Strange double bridge

Gloomy-looking selfie (I enjoyed myself! Honest!)

Scary cracking structure above the track

Engine house 

Flooded pit

Lonely ruin on spoil heaps

Hesitant sun over dormant landscape 

Quarrymen’s barracks, I suppose 

When I was done I drove to a little layby, which was near a gate that gave access to a gravel road to the lake. I really wanted to park close to wherever I would get into the water, given that it is January, and it is important to be able to get back to your warm dry clothes quite quickly. But that gate was really really closed! With barbed wire and everything. I also tied up the stream that comes out of the lake, but that looked really inaccessible for reasons of brambles. So I gave up on that. I just hoped nobody would have a finely developed sense of smell at the event. At least I had been so busy admiring the old quarrying relics that I wasn't anywhere near as sweaty as I would normally be after a long run. 

I also was running a bit late, so I just went straight to the event, and brought my bag in. I was sure there would be opportunities for munching on some sandwiches! And I was already contemplating a return. It is way too beautiful there not come back and do it all again!